Richard Owen in Rome
Supporters of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, have accused magistrates in Milan of "casting doubt" on the attack on him last month by demanding that he submit to medical checks to establish the true extent of his injuries.
The move came as the Senate passed a Bill shortening criminal trials in the face of protests by the centre Left opposition. It said it was an "ad personam" measure to enable Mr Berlusconi to evade justice by ensuring that two current trials in which he faces charges of corruption run out of time.
The Bill now passes to the Lower House, where it is expected to be approved next month, although it is not clear when — or whether — President Napolitano will sign it into law.
Mr Berlusconi, 73, suffered facial injuries when Massimo Tartaglia, 42, a Milan electronics engineer with a history of psychiatric problems, hurled a souvenir statuette of Milan cathedral at the Prime Minister while he was signing autographs at the end of a political rally.
The attack engendered a wave of public sympathy for Mr Berlusconi, who said it was the result of a "climate of hate" against him. He later attacked "politically motivated" magistrates for putting him in trial for corruption, saying they were "worse than Tartaglia".
A poll yesterday in the left leaning La Repubblica said he had maintained the personal popularity rating of 48 per cent he enjoyed after the attack, a rise of three percent on previous months when his ratings fell after of a series of embarrassing sex scandals.
On Tuesday Mr Tartaglia was transferred from the Milan prison where he has been held since the attack to a psychiatric hospital. Armando Sparato, the Milan prosecutor investigating the assault, said he had asked a medical team to examine Mr Berlusconi next Monday to establish "the extent and nature of his injuries, whether they are permanent or not, and the time needed for them to heal".
He said this was an "inevitable" part of the investigation since any charges against Mr Tartalia would depend in part on the damage he had inflicted. However Francesco Casoli, deputy head of Mr Berlusconi's ruling People of Liberty party in the Senate, said it was "an arrogant move to cast doubt on the real state of the Prime Ministers health".
At the time of the attack Alberto Zangrillo, the Prime Minister's doctor, said he had suffered deep cuts to his lips and left cheek, a fractured nose and two smashed teeth, and would need 90 days to recover. By law Mr Tartaglia faces a lower penalty if the injuries last for less than forty days. Above that limit the injuries are considered "grave".
Mr Berlusconi returned to work in Rome this month, 37 days after the attack, with little sign of the gashes on his face. He conceded that the injuries were barely visible, touching his cheek and saying "I have a little scar here". On Tuesday, visiting rehoused victims of last year's earthquake at L'Aquila in Abruzzo, he said he "two small scars" and had lost a tooth, adding "but I have another 35 left".
A video posted on YouTube shortly after the attack showed Mr Berlusconi instantly covering his face with a black handkerchief and holding it there while being bundled into his car. He then clambered out of the car and stood up on the doorframe, his face streaming with blood. His aides dimiss the idea that the attack was faked to gain sympathy as "ridiculous and insulting".
Last October Italy's Constitutional Court overturned a law giving Mr Berlusconi immunity from prosecution while in office. This paved the way for the resumption of two trials, one involving allegations that he bribed David Mills, his British former tax adviser and estranged husband of Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, to give false evidence in court on his behalf in the 1990s.
The Supreme Court is to rule on 25 February on whether to uhold a four and half year sentence given to Mr Mills last year for accepting the bribe. Mr Berlusconi's lawyers have said he will attend a hearing two days later in his own trial for allegedly giving the bribe.
Mr Berlusconi was due to attend a hearing on Monday in a second trial involving alleged tax fraud by his Mediaset television company, but his lawyers told the court he had unavoidable duties elsewhere. Prosecutors allege that Mr Berlusconi siphoned off 280 million Euros (£242m) by using two offshore companies to purchase US film rights and then re-sell them to Mediaset at inflated prices.
Mr Berlusconi said the trials against him were "firing squads".
Since the law applies retrospectively, both cases involving Mr Berlusconi would lapse if the Bill is approved.
Anna Finocchiaro, leader in the Senate of the opposition Democratic Party, said Mr Berlusconi was abusing his power to save himself. "Your priority has been, government after government, to serve your private interests" she said. "To do this you have not been afraid of shattering our legal system, and you have never shown any shame". Opposition senators waved banners reading "Berlusconi, face your trials."
The centre Right said the bill was a long needed reform to Italy's slow and lengthy trials system. However magistrates say the law could sink up to 100,000 trials, including bankruptcy cases in which tens of thousands of small investors are suing to get their money back.
Mr Berlusconi this week took part in a ceremony at Parliament honouring Bettino Craxi, the disgraced former Prime Minister and Mr Berlusconi's political mentor, ten years after his death in exile in Tunisia after fleeing Italy to escape prison for corruption. Mr Berlusconi, who built up his television empire thanks to changes in media law under Mr Craxi, has argued that Mr Craxi, like himself, was the victim of judicial persecution.
The centre Right is drawing up further measures include a law allowing Mr Berlusconi not to attend court cases because "legitimate impediments" and a constitutional reform to restore his immunity.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6995720.ece
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